anna karenina principle
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.41 in modern English
31
Scrabble Score
21
Letters
6
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "While there may be some truth in the Anna Karenina principle that all happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, we increasingly have a better understanding of what makes for unhappiness and stress in the workplace."
- "Japan is often convinced that its economic malaise since the 1980s is the root of its ills, but that link seems less than clear. […] It’s a variation on the Anna Karenina principle: All fertile societies are alike; each infertile society is infertile in its own way."
Etymology
Referring to Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel Anna Karenina, which begins: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Popularized by American scientist Jared Diamond (born 1937) in his 1997 non-fiction book Guns, Germs, and Steel, in which he uses it to illustrate why so few wild animals have been successfully domesticated throughout history.